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From: TT
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Photograph: Matt Dunham / AP / TT
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Stock Photography
While the clock is steadily ticking towards the New Year, Brexit negotiations have been suspended. The question is whether a phone conversation between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, can untie the knots later today.
On January 1, 2021, the current UK transitional rules expire. If no agreement can be reached on future rules of cooperation, they expect drastic changes to everything from tariffs to fishing quotas starting January 1, 2021.
News came in late Friday that negotiations had been suspended.
“We agreed today that the conditions for an agreement do not yet exist, due to significant differences of opinion,” wrote EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his British counterpart David Frost in a joint statement on Twitter.
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen will hold a telephone meeting on Saturday, Barnier announced. According to various media, it is scheduled for the afternoon.
Fishing has been singled out as one of the biggest obstacles in the dispute over the extent to which the EU should have the right to fish in British waters. The rules for business subsidies and how disputes over the deal should be resolved are other contentious issues, according to Reuters.
The UK formally left the EU on January 31 this year, but will be subject to transition rules until the turn of the year to make things easier for businesses and the general public.
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